The Only One Left
by hydref05
Summary: The Doctor slowly remembers what he's done and why he's regenerated far away from a home that no longer exists. Ninth Doctor Post series 1, Rose


**The Only One Left** - by Sian

**Synopsis**: "I saw him a couple a years ago outside a new building development in Totters Lane, East London. The guy seemed really confused and keep muttering, "They're all gone, I'm the only one left"..  
**Characters**: The Doctor (nine)  
**Episode/Spoilers**: Post new series 1, Rose  
**Rating**: PG (angst)  
**Notes**: Inspired by a quote off the Defending The Earth website...

"_I saw him a couple a years ago outside a new building development in Totters Lane, East London. The guy seemed really confused and keep muttering, "They're all gone, I'm the only one left". The man was either a complete loon or was drunk. Looking back, I think he was probably drunk as he looked as if he'd been to a fancy dress party. He was wearing some old Edwardian outfit, not a leather jacket."_

* * *

'_What just happened?_' he wondered. _What was going on? And why was he lying on the floor? Smoke_ - there was thick smoke coming from somewhere and he could smell burning. _Why hadn't the fire fighting systems activated? _

_Alright, stand up_, he told his body. "Stand up," he repeated out loud - _hang on, who's voice was that?_

He struggled to his feet - he felt different, not quite himself; in fact not at all himself. Slowly the fog in his mind began to clear. Daleks! Daleks had been attacking. Shit! He walked unsteadily to the console, the monitor refused to turn on. _Damn it, this isn't the time to go temperamental on me, old girl_, he told the ship. He turned some dials, pushed a button, pulled a lever - nothing happened. He pulled an access panel open and scrambled under the console - there was heavy damage under there. _Had the Daleks done this?_ He wondered as he used the sonic screwdriver to reattach broken circuits. _No, not the Daleks_, a voice in his head told him. _Then who?_ he asked.

He didn't have time to worry about that now though - he needed to know where they were and what had happened. Finally the console came to life - the monitor flickered and hissed, but it worked. He checked what was happening outside the TARDIS - that couldn't be right. He double checked the readings. The last he remembered he was in space above Gallifrey, battling Daleks, now he appeared to be in London, England, on Earth.

Then it hit him, like a bolt a electricity - Gallifrey, his people - he couldn't feel his people anymore. The only presence he could sense was his TARDIS, and she was weak, very weak. _Why was there no one else?_ He should know the answer, he was sure of it, but he couldn't remember.

His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden, viscous pain that shot through his body. He doubled up, fell to his knees and held his head. As the pain slowly receded, he recognised it - it was the pain of regeneration. He'd regenerated. He didn't know why, but he was suddenly certain that he shouldn't have done.

He sat leaning against the console, trying to remember. Memories of the battle, the last battle, began to return to him. TARDISes were dying, one by one being consumed by the Dalek fleet. "Ah, no!" he sighed, at the memory of his son's TARDIS being destroyed. He threw his head back, "No!" he shouted, his new voice filling the console room. Too many dead already. The Daleks had to be stopped, couldn't be allowed to take the planet. Below him, Gallifrey was already starting to burn.

He'd watched yesterday - possibly longer ago than that - as Arcadia had fallen. A pleasure planet, no threat to anyone. They'd tried to defend it, he and several others, but in the end there was nothing they could do. Now it was gone, devastated by the Daleks like so many planets before her.

Gallifrey was all that remained to defend the universe now. All that stood in the way of Dalek domination. So why was he here, in London, when he should be back there, fighting for his planet and his people? _'You killed them,'_ the voice said.

He opened his eyes and stared in horror into the distance as he suddenly realised. _I killed them_, he remembered. _All of them, not just the Daleks. I unleashed the power the Eye of Harmony. I let it devour them all._ The horror of that thought was almost too much for his mind to take.

He hadn't acted alone, he knew that - others had helped, but he'd been the one to make the final decision, to push the button. He remembered the voices of the other Time Lords now - some telling him to do it when he hesitated, more telling him to stop; screaming at him, accusing him of cowardice, genocide, of being a traitor. And then it was quiet and they were gone. _I killed them!_

Blindly he struggled to his his feet and left the console room. Fled through the damaged corridors of his ship, deep into her centre. Finally, when he couldn't run anymore, when the pain of regeneration became too much, he collapsed to the floor, curled into the foetal position and let the pain of his emotions wash over him.

He had no idea how long he'd lay there, but he was fairly sure he'd passed out again. When he came to, he had a desperate need to be outside, out of the ship, away from the memories the TARDIS had invoked - because he remembered it all now. He stumbled back to the console room, past the still smoldering time rotar, pushed fallen debris from in front of the door and staggered outside, into a bright Earth morning.

People were rushing past him, with no idea what had happened in a solar system a million years away from them - what had happened so that they and species like them could carry on evolving. He walked along the street, oblivious to the strange looks he was receiving. He'd had a vain hope that being away from the TARDIS, he'd be able to feel his people again. He'd known it was a ridiculous idea, but it was all he had.

He staggered a little, stopped and closed his eyes. "They're all gone. I'm the only one left," he said. "They're all gone!" He opened his eyes, took a few steadying breaths, turned and walked slowly back to the TARDIS.

END


End file.
